Just received the following email:

Hi Alex,
 
We'd like to take a moment to make you aware of some changes to the Future of Fun community.
 
As of June 30, 2015, the Future of Fun community will be finishing. We would like to thank you for sharing your time and views with us. As a member you have been incredibly valuable to us.

While we are closing Future of Fun community, our commitment to listening to and taking action on feedback remains as strong as ever.

What will happen to the community and my log in details?

Once the Future of Fun community has been closed, the login page will no longer be accessible and you will not receive any further communications from Future of Fun.

What will happen to my personal information?

Once the community has closed, all personal information held will be destroyed within 90 days.

What should I do if I have any questions or concerns?

If you have any thoughts or comments before the community closes, please send these to: support@futureoffun.com.au 
 


Cheers,

The Future of Fun Team 

Considering the subject line was 'important news about future of fun' and the first line is 'make you aware of some changes' i think it's pretty shitty to then say they're closing it down. They could have just said that from the beginning...

Also, this was the closest thing we had to having a park representative on these forums. It was a chance to hear the ideas the park had, and give them our views. Presumably they've decided it's not worth continuing, or because too many people divulge the secret proposals they put out to FoF members. Either way, I think this is a poor decision, although considering they hadn't used it much recently, it was probably for the best...

It's a shame that they've put so much effort into building such a community, only to throw it away a year or two later...

Well this sucks. 

I really enjoyed this initiative as it actually made me feel like I was helping mould the parks along with everyone else. I remember doing the survey regarding a new nighttime event, and low and behold, Carnivale was born a couple of weeks latter. I really made all the guests that had signed up feel important and as if their input was valued. 

I may be wrong, but I believe they said that this was a limited competition as they gave out prizes. VRTP, if you're listening, please bring this back in some form. Whether it's regular surveys or a park rep, it was a really wonderful experience.

Edited June 23, 201511 yr by Zanstabar

Not entirely surprising, the number of surveys had slowed.

As to people divulging secret proposals, I'm sure they would have expected that anyway.

Though I never signed up so never saw what was offered and as such can't miss it all that much, posts here over the past few years suggests this website was responsible for the death of both Wild and the Doomsday tower. That right there should be reason enough to keep it going.

Realistically I'd say what has happened is that the individuals that once championed this platform no longer work for VRTP or there's no longer the budget to keep it going which seems most logical considering the June 30 shutdown date. Or there's just nothing planned for the future...

I'm sure they knew from day one that information would be leaked, and that their competition would be keeping a close eye on it; I can't imagine this had much to do with its demise. Information leaks from market research all the time (and did from theme parks when it was just a guy with a clipboard and pen); that's one of the trade-offs an organisation has to make.

It was a great initiative that I really enjoyed being a part of

As a few have mentioned, surveys dried up long ago but they used to be meaningful and did appear to shape some of the strategic direction of the parks

Best part of it was probably the sit down focus groups where we went through the Wild proposals (and got paid to do it!) and the discounted vip passes the year before last. 

Hopefully it will reappear one day in a similar vein 

 

 

Edited June 23, 201511 yr by Brad2912

I'm wondering how far FoF members are bound by the confidentiality explained  or expressed during the online and face to face focus groups, now that it no longer exists? There's a lot of detail that was discussed or revealed in those (especially face to face groups) that has not yet been discussed... especially in relation to Wild.

Never was a part of it, but I know how important it was and I'm really hoping they find another way to get feedback from the public. It really was the only way people could voice their opinions.

I loved it, and got two free VIP passes out of it along the way. I would've loved to have participated in the focus groups however at the time wasn't of age so missed out. Would love to know the Wild ideas if it were allowable. 

I'm wondering how far FoF members are bound by the confidentiality explained  or expressed during the online and face to face focus groups, now that it no longer exists? There's a lot of detail that was discussed or revealed in those (especially face to face groups) that has not yet been discussed... especially in relation to Wild.

I would really love to hear about some of the other experiences with FOF which I couldn't partake in. Anyone here have a decent enough knowledge of confidentiality agreements to help clarify whether we can explicitly state some of the surveys and discussions? 

Can't say I'm surprised but I am disappointed. 

I think Richard has probably summed up exactly what has happened. 

I've seen the same thing happen with a UK company I have been involved with. Sad really. 

Never was a part of it, but I know how important it was and I'm really hoping they find another way to get feedback from the public. It really was the only way people could voice their opinions.

people can still voice their opinions through the parks various Facebook pages. 

It isn't as organised oor focused a method though

Edited June 23, 201511 yr by pushbutton

I got this email too this morning. I saw the email thinking it was another survey, I got so excited because they havn't done a survey for a while, and I enjoyed the surveys, made me think I was important, contributing to the development of new attractions in the parks. But when I read that they were taking down the website I wasn't too suprised. They havnt done much to that site, the surveys were the only thing I loved about it, but they stopped ages ago.